Carlos was on all fours today before I left for work! Crawling here we come!!!!!! How long does it take? Is he going to be crawling today or is this a practice being on all fours for a while thing? So excited. And scared!

It could be a while still. Will's friend did that for about a month before he finally took off full force.

It was two weeks from pushing up on hands and knees until Sven figured out a weirdo half-crawling method (push up, throw self down, repeat -- like breaststroke on land!), and then another two weeks to get to actual crawling. It's so fun!!

She now is totally anti-crawling, loves to walk around holding things, loves to share (for pretend or for real, and she doesn't like to share her parents' affection), loves to bang on stuff and make music and ride her new little "car" and pretend to talk on the phone. She's smiling and laughing 90% of her awake time. She's taking anywhere from 5-20 minutes to go to bed these days, waking up once or twice for a quick bottle, and sleeping around 10 hours at night. She sort of quit saying "ball," but she still says some approximation of "hello" when pretending to talk on the phone and today I swear she said "daddy."

We had her one year check-up today. The doctor said she was right on schedule developmentally. She's now 29.75" and 21lb3oz. She's 50-75% percentile on all her measurements (the nurse said - wow, she's a lot heavier than she looks!). Her possible port wine stain is looking roughly the same and seems fairly benign still, but we're probably going to have a dermatologist look at it soon just to have a baseline with a specialist. We also have to get her a dentist!

Does anyone have advice about the lead and iron tests? Our doc ordered a CBC and lead level, which combined require a draw from the vein, which sounds like really bad news to me and like something I am super not interested in putting her through. I don't really get why they'd need a CBC if the real question is iron level, which takes very little blood to test. What have your docs ordered for 1 year blood tests? Has anyone been able to do it with just a heel stick or finger prick?

Ariann, I don't know if we did a CBC test, but we requested lead because we lived in a crumbly old house at the time. Getting the vial of blood was unpleasant, but it was worth it to us to know he wasn't being exposed to lead. So it depends on your living situation, I guess.

I just dropped Walter off at preschool and I'm home by myself until lunchtime...it's bizarre. I miss him :(

So it seems like vegan babies come in all sizes, and ours is on the gigantic plan. At about 2 1/2 months she was 16 pounds-- double her birth weight! We've decided to stop telling our families how much Scarlett weighs because it is NOT COOL to joke about my baby needing to go on a diet.

So glad Scarlett is doing well! I think people just need to comment on something, anything. If its not "ermahgehrd she's huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge!" its "ermagehrd, why isn't she reciting the Gettysburg address yet?"

Leela gets so many comments about being big, or developed or whatever, but she's really not that huge. And their growth/weight gain does slow down.

_________________My oven is bigger on the inside, and it produces lots of wibbly wobbly, cake wakey... stuff. - The PoopieB.

Malka sounds adorable - I can't wait for Giles to be doing all those cute things!

Moo - I know what you mean with the big baby - I was telling everybody about the rolls of fat and rapid weight gain of my little guy because I was #1 proud and #2 amazed that all that came from breast milk - but some people's comments, whether joking or not, were a little much to handle!

So today is Giles 2 month birthday and to prepare for the celebration he SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! Probably just a one time event and I didn't really enjoy it because I was petrified something was wrong with him, but gives me hope for the future!

Ariann, the lead test is required here and our doctor's office drew blood from the vein. They said it was more accurate (i'm not sure why) but they also don't do the finger prick at all in the office. I can't remember what else she had checked...I know at least her iron level. I wish I knew how to make the blood draw more pleasant. She had it done twice (again at 15 months to follow up on the lead level) and both were pretty horrible experiences. But, Ada now freaks out the moment we walk into the exam room so she was already in hysterics by the time her blood was drawn.

How many days a week is Walter doing preschool, mitten? I'm not sure we're ready to start, but some days (like, oh, today?) the thought of a couple hours away from Inez sounds like heaven. I can't believe these guys are almost two!

Happy Birthday Malka! We are expecting a blood draw for the lead test, but it's definitely worth it to me.

@Mooo...I feel your frustration. Nearly every single time we have that "how old is she" conversation at the park/playgroup, etc. the next statement is some variant on "wow, she's a big girl". Yeah, she is. I've run the gamut from defensive to playful (telling one person she was part giant) to "activist" ("it's because she's a vegan"). Now, it mostly rolls off my back. We worked really mother forking hard to go from the point where everyone was worried about Freya not weighing *enough*. I must admit to being very reassured when the doctor said she was fine and that some extra fat stores were helpful during that first year to help when she's unwell. (he's a very kind man)

(There's still a little part of me that wants to say to that mom of the 14 month old who's smaller than Bean, that "my baby could eat your baby")

Everyone thought Silas was huge and a giant (blaming breastmilk) until he was a toddler, next thing you know he's so teeny tiny he's "wasting away" and everyone is blaming veganism. Everyone has to say something!

Oh jeez, I am sure he will forget this in time too but: he has also been SNAPPING HIS FINGERS over the past couple of days. I can't even do that on purpose, much less by accident. My 7 month old has outpaced me.

Dude. Freya just started doing this on Monday. It's not a proper snap, though, so maybe it's not the same thing. It's so freaking weird though. Yesterday, at the park, I watched her do it like 20 times in a row.

Today, on Skype with Grandma...grandma coughs and then Freya fake coughs, followed by insane laughter. Good times.

and, for a non-crawling 9 1/2 month old, this kid can move. She is up on her knees occasionally, on her stomach all the time, but no crawls, just buttshuffles, lunges, pivots, rolling rolling and now the ability to roll and then push herself to sitting. She was quite proud of herself.

You're all killing me by saying you did the venipuncture. I did a little online research and it looks like a heel stick would work as a screening for lead - then if it's problematic they go on to the real blood draw. I am going to call my doctor's office and talk it out a little bit. I'm pretty sure the lead thing is by law around here although I highly doubt Malka is at risk (she spends a lot of time in older buildings because most buildings are old here, but they are not crumbly, and all went through lead remediation a million years ago). I am highly unconvinced by the CBC and I learned through my pregnancy to never OK a test that I didn't know everything about, why it was being ordered, what the results could mean, and what next steps might be. Generic screening feels very low priority in a child who is developing so perfectly.

How many days a week is Walter doing preschool, mitten? I'm not sure we're ready to start, but some days (like, oh, today?) the thought of a couple hours away from Inez sounds like heaven. I can't believe these guys are almost two!

Just Wednesday mornings, 8:30-11:30. There's an adorable preschool right down the street from us and they take kids 2-5, and when I called to see if Walter could start mid year they said he could start now, at 21 months. He's in a class of 9 toddlers with two very nice teachers. His first day went well; no tears and no poop, and he ate a banana and did a hand tracing project. It definitely feels like the right time for him to branch out a little; we both got a little stir crazy over the summer and I think we'll benefit from having three hours a week to do our own things.

That sounds like a great set-up. We have approximately a bajillion awesome preschools around us, to the point that choosing one is a little daunting. Berries and preschools are the main things grown on this island, I swear. But I think it's time to start looking into it more seriously. I think it'd be great for her (and me, ha).